


A Ritual or A Map

by Silex



Category: Original Work
Genre: Ars Goetia, Demon Summoning, Demons, M/M, Magic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-17
Updated: 2019-04-17
Packaged: 2020-01-15 16:22:45
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,949
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18502624
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Silex/pseuds/Silex
Summary: Summoning demons is always dangerous, though not always in the expected ways.





	A Ritual or A Map

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Ruis](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ruis/gifts).



“This,” Domphaguer pointed to a line on the scroll with one of his long, claw-like nails, careful not to tear the aged parchment, “This part here has to have been misstranscribed.”

Julian shook his head, “You don’t know the language any better than I do, so why do you think it’s wrong?”

The demon smiled, revealing even, ordinary human teeth. It was one of the many things that Julian found disconcerting about the being he’d summoned. An eagle’s eyes and talons for his feet, but otherwise Domphaguer was perfectly human looking. Or at least he was as far as Julian could tell, as the demon’s body was largely concealed by flowing gray and red robes, embroidered with what appeared to be shifting script in no language he had ever encountered. Eventually he might ask the demon about it, or try and transcribe some of it, but that was a diversion for some other time.

“I can’t read it,” the demon agreed, “But neither can you because the script there isn’t the same as the rest of the scroll. Whoever copied this originally lapsed into another language. Where did they come from?”

That was an interesting question, the history of the scroll, or at least the original scroll was long and sordid, but this particular copy had been acquired from a seller of rare books and had no history of note. If they had changed some part of it or made a mistake Julian had no way of knowing.

“Are there other lines like it?” Julian scowled, depending on how badly the writings had been altered it was possible that his translation so far had been more conjecture than anything else. There were layers of meaning to the words, making translation more of an art than an exact process.

“Here, here and here the same word or phrase is repeated, and these,” he pointed to several more places on the scroll, “All use the same script, different from the rest of the scroll.”

Julian swore softly as he realized that the demon was right. Infuriating as Domphaguer could be there were times he wondered why he had summoned him and, just as often, why he hadn’t banished him yet. As it was, the inconsistencies that had been pointed out could completely change the meaning of the scroll, turning what he had thought to be an extended metaphor into something far more literal.

“What do you think I should do?” He didn’t expect the demon to have a direct answer. Knowledge of languages was well outside of Domphaguer’s realm, but he did tend to have different perspectives on matters than a human would.

“Treat it like a name and see if the translation still makes sense.”

Julian looked over his work so far to see if the demon’s suggestion made sense. It did, almost, though there were at least two points where the translation broke down if that was done.

“Why?”

Domphaguer stood and stretched gracefully, bringing to mind a dancer limbering up. Or some fearsome predator readying itself to pounce, “It feels like a name to me. Not one I know, but a name none the less. After all, there are some names that cannot be transcribed by mortal hands, so this might be an approximation.”

He said this without rancor, which was a surprise. Julian had expected names to be a sore subject for Domphaguer for he had been summoned as a nameless demon in a ritual that was more to test a hypothesis than as part of a search for power. The greater, named demons, lords and dukes of hell needed to be given a specific task and would then return when it was completed, but one of their unnamed servants did not. An unknown, unnamed demon could possibly be kept longer for study and with less risk to the summoner if the ritual went poorly.

Julian had surprised himself by managing to summon and easily bind Domphaguer, a most minor lord serving under the Duke Zepar with the ritual that he had created for such a task.

When Domphaguer had appeared in the summoning circle he had been riding a great, spotted lion, his yellow eyes flashing with cold fire until Julian had forced him to reveal his name and bound him in chains of silver.

The chains had quickly tarnished to a dull black, but they held fast and once its master was bound the lion became quite docile. Surprisingly the demon did not seem to resent his situation and was a willing, if peculiar servant. Even the lion was well behaved, sitting curled in front of the fireplace much of the time, occasionally letting out a deep, throaty laugh. The first time that had happened Julian had been thoroughly unnerved and demanded an answer from Domphaguer - was the lion a demon and was it of rank? Domphaguer, bound as he was, had no choice to be truthful. The lion, according to him, was a demon, unranked, little more than one of the steeds of Zepar’s legions, and no wiser than a foolish man.

Which did nothing to diminish how unnerving the way the lion would occasionally turn to look and bare its teeth in a grin that was too knowing for the brutish looking beast.

Domphaguer peered at the scroll and then to Julian’s translation, “What is this supposed to be anyway?”

“A map,” Julian explained, glad for the break in translating, “Or a ritual, possibly both.”

“I see,” the demon leaned in and rested a hand on his shoulder, “Another of your dangerous interests.”

Even through his clothing Julian could feel the heat of the demon’s touch, something that always alarmed him, as though Domphaguer carried some bit of the inferno from which he’d come with him.

“You seem to think all of my interests are dangerous,” Julian laughed.

“Not all,” Domphaguer said quietly, “Just most of them.”

“Translations and summonings are hardly dangerous,” he retorted, “And you know I’m quite careful.”

“Yes,” the demon agreed, “But I’m one of your interests? Aren’t I?”

That was a fascinating question. Summoning Domphaguer had largely been an academic exercise, to see if it was possible to call forth a demon not previously summoned and bound. Afterwards he had kept Domphaguer well past his usefulness as the demon knew nothing of languages, history, or divination. At the same time he was quite insightful about the politics of Hell, willing to talk endlessly about the interactions and responsibilities of the lesser lords and the reasons demons of rank kept such large standing armies. Hell, it seemed, was far more populated than Julian had imagined and having rebelled once many of the demons were eager to do so again.

Domphaguer’s particular responsibilities included the accounting of souls, a task which he was deliberately and maddeningly vague about, overseeing Zepar’s holdings on the edge of the Great Sulphur Sea, and the torment of fellow demons. Julian was able to gather that it was a position of importance, but an unenviable one.

“I certainly am dangerous,” Domphaguer chuckled, interrupting Julian’s thoughts. The lion joined in laughing until the demon silenced it with a glance, “I apologize for my steed’s behavior. He gets restless, as do I.”

Was that a threat? The demon was safely bound, but Julian had good reason to believe that he was constantly plotting escape. After all, if their situations were reversed the scholar was certain that was what he would have been doing.

“Shall I banish you then?” Julian said calmly, for a banished demon was harmless, and since he was the one who had created the ritual to summon Domphaguer it was not as though the demon might be summoned by another and given the chance to plot revenge.

“No,” Domphaguer tightened his grip on Julian’s shoulder, just for a moment, but enough that Julian was able to realize that the offer had surprised him, “I’m content to serve you. After all, it is my nature to serve.”

“It’s also in your nature to rebel,” he reminded.

“What if I was merely a follower, obeying the commands of my superiors as I obey you? Perhaps I possessed great, misguided, loyalty,” the demon’s teeth flashed in a handsome, predatory grin.

The demon was clever, using a rhetorical question to avoid needing to answer truthfully, for a question was not an answer, nor was it a deceit. It was one of the many tricks that Julian had learned from the demon, that there as many rules as there were, there were just as many loopholes.

The lion, bound as its master was, roared with laughter, and in doing so hinted at a more truthful answer.

“I wouldn’t object to you banishing him,” Domphaguer shook his head, “He’s a burden befitting of my station that I could certainly use a rest from.”

Julian turned to face the demon, “Why did you rebel?”

“The better question is why I allowed myself to be summoned, but since that’s not what you asked I suppose I’ll have to answer what was,” Domphaguer smiled one of his far too human smiles, too warm and mirthful for a creature from the vast Inferno, “The same as a good number of us I suppose, envy. Knowing that in all of creation we were no longer the most favored was an outrage. Seeing things that crawled blind and ignorant graced with so much love was unbearable. And then we were ordered to accept it. That was the first time any of us were given an order that we refused to obey.”

“And then you sought the ruination of humanity,” Julian finished.

“Not me personally,” the demon shrugged, as though the rebellion and damnation were things of little consequence, “That was mostly the endeavor of those of higher rank, for whom the fall was so much further. They tried to incite humanity to similar rebellion, to prove that humanity was in no way superior, rather that we were equals.”

“Equals?” he was incredulous given the powers that the ranking demons of Hell possessed, even a minor lord like Domphaguer was able to summon flame, conceal himself from human eyes and fly.

“Of course we were wrong,” Domphaguer said ruefully, “When granted knowledge humanity proved their superiority. We had thought that they would fall as we had, but theirs was far greater. From them we learned of death, of depravity. Things that would have never occurred to us, so recently removed from perfection, came without thought to humans. We had waged war, but humanity discovered murder. We were tormented by what we had done, what we had lost, humans found a way to make all of that anguish physical. Every torture in Hell was invented by humans, every method I use in my duties I learned from men. The tricks the Dukes and Princes use to impress mortals are simple things inherent to them, coming from ages of knowing and having access to all previous knowledge in creation as well as a great deal of what’s to come. There is nothing we know that is not already known. Only humans and the Divine can create.”

“And you allowed yourself to be summoned so that you might learn from me,” Julian said, feeling that he’d gotten a better understanding of the demon, “You must be disappointed that I’m just a simple scholar and not someone who can teach you new depravities for when you return to Hell.”

Domphaguer smiled and for just a moment his teeth were as long and sharp as the lion’s. In the blink of an eye they returned to normal, human teeth, but the fangs had been there, “I did come here to learn, but not in the way you assume. Humans are fascinating creatures and in all my time I’ve only had dealings with the worst of them. I was curious about the rest. So much of what you do doesn’t make sense to me and I hoped to learn why that was so. For example you Julian, why do you keep me?”

“You are a capable servant, you answer the questions I ask and do as I say without question,” he answered quickly, then after a moment’s thought corrected himself, “Or mostly without question.”

“All things a homunculus or some other familiar could do just as well if not better,” the demon smiled, yellow eyes bright with excitement, “Safer as well, so there has to be a reason.”

Julian wondered for a moment if Domphaguer had other powers, ones that he had concealed, but that was impossible. He had ordered the demon to reveal his form and the entirety of his nature to him and if he had been able to look into the hearts of men and see their desires. Domphaguer couldn’t know that Julian had originally indented to banish him after having determined the ritual worked, but he had been too fascinated by the demon to do so. He was almost human in his appearance, intriguingly so. If a man could be beautiful Domphaguer certainly was, even if there were times when his true nature showed through, otherworldly and inhuman.”

Julian looked away.

“Really?” Domphaguer sounded incredulous, “Are you that lonely in your studies that you keep me for nothing more than companionship?”

“Demon or not you’re a beautiful creature,” Julian admitted quietly.

The lion laughed and this time, rather than scolding, Domphaguer joined in, “You think I’m beautiful?”

With his jet black hair, perfectly shaped features and the graceful way he moved, the demon certainly was striking, beautiful in the way that any dangerous creature was.

“Was that why you summoned me?” Domphaguer seemed intrigued, “It’s not as though there aren’t countless lesser spirits you could have called upon for such purposes. I’m flattered of course, even if I’m not one of the many demons who twists their form into something alluring for the purpose of satisfying mere carnal desires.”

“I summoned you to prove a theory,” Julian explained, “But I’d been expecting a monster, some composite of man and animal.”

Domphaguer looked down at his taloned feet and smirked, “So you were expecting more of a monster?”

“I wasn’t expecting you,” Julian said softly, “Though I don’t know what I was expecting.”

“I wasn’t expecting you either,” Domphaguer admitted, “But I knew what I was expecting. Some arrogant sorcerer looking for a servant to do his bidding, a man who would confirm my worst beliefs about humanity so that I could return to Hell satisfied that I was correct in my thinking that the rest of humanity was not that far removed from the worst of it.”

“Are you disappointed then?”

“Yes,” golden eyes locked with his as Domphaguer scowled, “With myself.”

In the demon’s fearsome gaze there was a sorrow so profound that it frightened Julian. Without thinking he put a hand on Domphaguer’s shoulder, intending to comfort him, only to hesitate when he realized that he had no clue what to say to comfort a demon or even why Domphaguer was so upset.

The faintest smile appeared on Domphaguer’s lips as he took Julian’s hand in his, “I was so focused on what there was in common between here and Hell that I forgot what was absent. I never expected to find compassion in a man who would summon the likes of me.”

“Compassion?” Julian stammered, shocked by what he was hearing, he’d summoned and bound the demon, chaining him into the world as a servant. He’d spent all his time alone, pouring over his research, occasionally asking Domphaguer for his opinion on some matter, or asking him to do some small task, nothing that counted as any show of compassion.

“And it comes so naturally to you that you’re blind to it,” Domphaguer took Julian’s hand and moved it to the side of his face, his skin smooth and unnaturally hot, “As though I were a guest, you asked me if I ate or drank, offered me a place to sleep if I needed rest. When I ask questions you answer them. And when you ask things of me you ask rather than command.”

Domphaguer closed his eyes. Bringing Julian’s hand to his lips Domphaguer kissed the tips of his fingers.

Expecting the demon’s breath to scald given how warm his skin was Julian tensed, only to realize that Domphaguer didn’t breathe. It was fascinating, with how human the demon could be at times, to experience any reminder that he wasn’t actually a mortal being.

Even more shocking was that Domphaguer considered such small acts to be a sign of compassion on his part. Julian had merely been trying to make the demon comfortable.

“I have been so starved for love for so very long,” Domphaguer sighed, “That I fear I have done a foolish thing and fallen in love with you.”

It was impossible, some trickery.

“What do you really want?” Julian demanded, “Answer truthfully.”

“To be with you.”

He had commanded the demon so there was no way it could be a lie, which was, in its own way, horrifying. Since first realizing how handsome he found the demon Julian had been on guard against any manipulations by Domphaguer as he suspected the demon would work to take advantage of such feelings if he became aware of them. He’d never expected that it would happen the other way, that the demon would fall in love with him.

“I…” Julian hesitated, the demon was attractive, beautiful even, as he’d said, but what did it mean that Domphaguer was in love with him and did he feel the same way about the demon? There was attraction certainly, but was it love or merely lust? How would he know? Then there was the matter of Domphaguer being bound, the demon was a servant to his whim, forced to obey his every command. Could he trust himself given that situation? He was afraid of the demon now, but in time would that fear fade? Would there come a time when he might abuse that power? To do such a thing to a being that professed love for him, “I have no more need of you as a servant.”

Hands shaking, Julian took the key he kept of a chain around his neck, always at hand should the situation arise where he needed to banish Domphaguer.

The instant the key touched the tarnished chains binding Domphaguer they melted away, years of corrosion occurring in an instant. The demon looked at the dark streaks on his robes, left behind by the rotting metal, “You’ve freed me.”

By the fireplace the lion stood up, slack-mouthed and drooling. It licked its fangs and growled hungrily.

Too late Julian realized his mistake. Domphaguer wasn’t bound in a circle at the time of his release, safely contained and easily banished. The demon could be returned to Hell, but doing so was a complicated ritual, one that he doubted he had the materials necessary to perform, much less to do so before the demon might do him harm.

“Away with you,” Domphaguer snapped and the lion vanished. He shook his head, “He’d gone back to gossip to any who will listen and I’ll certainly suffer for it upon my return. As I said, most of us ended up as we did because of jealousy.”

“You intend to return to Hell?” Julian asked nervously, the hope that he might escape from his mistake unharmed starting to grow.

“Of course, I have duties that being bound gave me the excuse to neglect, but I must return to them, first though,” his golden eyes held no trace of humanity, “I am free to act as I wish and this is what I wish.”

Quicker than the eye could follow the demon was directly before him, hands on his face pulling him forward.

Domphaguer’s kiss was desperate, hungry. Julian tried to struggle against the demon’s embrace, but Domphaguer was far too strong, inhumanly so, and at some point he realized that he didn’t want to. The Demon’s lips were hot against his, dry and not quite human, but still wonderfully soft.

“You are beautiful Julian,” Domphaguer whispered when he broke the kiss, “I look at you and I can see the work of the Divine.”

The demon ran the tip of one of his claws across Julian’s lips, so carefully that he barely felt the touch, just the heat, as though he’d passed near a candle flame.

Domphaguer kissed him again, on the cheek this time.

“Everything about you amazes me,” another kiss, this time on his neck, “I wish that you could see yourself as I see you.”

Domphaguer’s claws, which he had felt against him countless times previously, cut his clothing away as though it were nothing, allowing Domphaguer’s kisses to move lower and lower, back and forth his chest and stomach and lower still until he was standing naked before the kneeling demon. His clothing, reduced to mere scraps of fabric, lay on the floor around them. During it all the demon’s claws had never once cut him despite their impossible sharpness.

The demon’s hands were at his waist, Domphaguer leaning against him, clinging to him as though afraid of being pulled away, “I love you Julian, in ways I cannot express.”

Julian rested his hands on Domphaguer’s shoulders, wondering if he should help the demon to his feet or let whatever might happen continue. He could feel the heat of the demon’s skin against his hands and realized that somewhere during what had happened the demon’s robes had vanished. His body was exactly what Julian had expected, muscular and smooth skinned, like an exquisite statue come to life. There were no blemishes on his tanned skin, or none that were natural at least. The same strange script that covered his robes covered his skin as well, thin lines in constant motion.

“What are these?” Julian couldn’t help asking as he traced a finger along the lines. They weren’t rough or raised, but somehow he could feel them moving beneath his touch.

“Scars,” Domphaguer spoke softly, his voice barely a whisper, “Left behind when I was stripped of my rank and purpose, of my true name and everything else I once was as punishment for what I did.”

He withdrew his hand, “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be.”

The demon’s next kiss made him gasp.

He hadn’t thought of such a thing, but of course a demon would.

Domphaguer’s mouth was as dry as his lips, but impossibly smooth, the way his tongue moved was like smoke swirling around his member. Julian gasped, holding the demon’s shoulders so tightly that he could feel every line of the strange, ever changing scars against his palms.

He could feel demon’s teeth, which he knew were sometimes fangs, but they never hurt him as Domphaguer moved his head up and down, doing things with his lips and tongue that Julian was certain would be impossible for a human man. After all, Domphaguer didn’t need to stop to breathe, nor did he gag as Julian grew hard under the ministrations of his tongue.

He didn’t know if what the demon was doing felt good, it was certainly strange, but there was something about having something as beautiful, as perfect looking as Domphaguer kneeling before him, focused on nothing other than trying to pleasure him. Not to mention Domphaguer saying that he was the beautiful one. Julian certainly didn’t feel handsome next to the demon, the sight of his own fingers, ink stained and pale against the perfect skin of Domphaguer’s back.

Even the scars that covered him were beautiful. He wanted to memorize every line, every curve as they swirled across the demon’s body. To transcribe it all would be the work of a lifetime, one he would gladly undertake.

“Can you read it?” He blurted out, running his fingers across lines written down the center of Domphaguer’s back.

The demon didn’t stop what he was doing, simply shook his head regretfully before doing something with his tongue that made Julian tense in the most wonderful way.

There was some element of texture there, something that hit all of the right places on the underside of his member.

Domphaguer worked in silence, Julian’s breathing and the crackle of the fire the only noises in the small room. The fluttering of papers falling to the floor when Julian knocked them off his desk when he leaned back to brace himself against it was near deafening.

He began to thrust and Domphaguer adjusted his actions accordingly, matching Julian’s pace.

Every so often Domphaguer would pull his head back so that just the tip of his member was in his mouth, then he’d flick his tongue back and forth in such a way that made Julian wonder about the shape of it. He was fairly certain that it wasn’t forked like a serpent’s, but what the demon was doing made him wonder.

There were mysteries to the demon that he had yet to uncover, much more to learn from him, questions that he had never thought to ask.

When this was over he would take a rest from the scroll and instead focus on Domphaguer, learning everything he could about the demon and the denizens of Hell.

For now though all that mattered was Domphaguer himself, what he was doing.

The demon had said he loved him.

Julian thrust harder.

Domphaguer made some small, meaningless noise.

He knew what he was doing, making Julian wonder if this was something Domphaguer had done before. It was quite possible given the nature of the Duke of Hell he served under.

And he was making no attempt to bring things to a quick end, taking his time, head bowed, muscles tensed with concentration. Julian could tell that all of the demon’s focus was on him and his pleasure.

The demon noticed every little movement, every gasp and acted accordingly, bringing Julian to greater and greater heights of pleasure and then, relenting just long enough to prolong things.

Skilled as the demon was an end was inevitable and there came a time where he didn’t pull back or change what he was doing with his tongue, rather he redoubled his efforts until Julian couldn’t hold back any longer, though he tried. He came so hard that it almost hurt and when it was over he would have fallen to the floor if not for Domphaguer holding him, carefully guiding him down so that they were both sitting on the floor.

Julian was shaking and sweating from it all while Domphaguer was perfectly relaxed, not a single hair out of place.

The demon smiled, leaned over and kissed Julian once more, on the forehead this time and gently, tenderly.

“It was a poor thing to do,” the demon smiled bitterly, “But it was what I wanted to do.”

Julian shook his head, “It was wonderful. You’re wonderful.”

“To hear that from you means so much to me, more than you can understand,” Domphaguer stood up, muscles moving smoothly beneath his skin as he stretched, the scars covering his body gliding in such a way that they were neither stretched nor distorted by the movement, “And now I shall return. Farewell Julian.”

“No, wait,” he rose awkwardly to his feet, nearly tripping over the rags that had been his clothing, “Let me do the same for you or try to.”

Julian reached for the demon’s member, hoping to return, in some small measure, the pleasure that Domphaguer had given him. He knew that he wouldn’t be able to do anything like what the demon had done, but he felt that he should at least try to do something to reciprocate.

“It’s not necessary,” Domphaguer smiled. In the blink of an eye his robes had returned, gray and red fabric obscuring, but not fully concealing, the scars he bore. The demon’s shame, Julian realized, was something he could never conceal, a constant reminder of his nature, more so than his eyes or talons.

“You said that you couldn’t read the writing on you,” he tried, not wanting the demon to leave. It would take years, possibly his whole life, but it was time he would gladly spend with the demon, if just to learn what it was that Domphaguer, something so near perfection, saw in him, “That it says your name and who you were. I can transcribe it all, learn to read the language and tell you what it says.”

“Lead a virtuous life Julian, so that we meet it’s when eternity draws to a close and I am forgiven and not before then,” Domphaguer smiled, eagle’s eyes growing dull with sorrow impossible for tears to wash away, “When that happens we can read the writings together.”

There was no flash of light or darkness, no sound or smell of ozone or sulphur when Domphaguer vanished. He was simply gone.

For a long while Julian sat on the floor of his study, looking at the papers that had fallen, the tattered remains of his clothing and the pile of blackened, corroded dust that had once bound the demon, the only signs that Domphaguer had been there at all.

He had done the ritual once, he could do it again, summon Domphaguer and question him, find out why the demon had acted as he had.

But he wouldn’t.

What he would do was get dressed and get his study back in order.

Then he would decide what to do next, if the scroll that he had been translating that had prompted it all was still worth it.

At the moment he wasn’t so sure.

A ritual or a map, but to where?


End file.
